10 CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS TO SCRAP IN 2018 (AND WHAT TO REPLACE THEM WITH)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Blogging, and Only Blogging

Misleading/Clickbait Headlines

Gating Content Like Your Life Depends on it

Bad Retargeting

Pop-Ups with UX Flaws (Which Google Hates)

Subject Matter Expertise Above Everything Else

Sticking with the Old – Out of Fear of the New

“Set it and Forget it” – Forgoing Reoptimization

Narrow Content that YOU Want, Not Your Readers

Using Too Many CTAs (Especially Generic Ones)

Conclusion

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01

IntroductionWe all have our faults. Some of us more than others.

But it’s almost 2018, and content marketing has thrived for more than a decade now.

Why are we still making mistakes, heeding bad advice and adding to the trash pile of

terrible content?

That’s not a rhetorical question – we need answers, and we need to learn more.

To begin, let’s all agree to stop using these 10 content marketing tactics as soon as

possible. Like, right now.

02

THE FUTURE

Blogging, and Only Blogging

Marketers need multifaceted strategies that

incorporate virtually every channel and asset

type. Remember, content marketing has

been around for more than a decade now;

some brands are excelling at it, while others

still wishfully believe they can get by on the

bare minimum.

Include:

Yes, companies do this. No, we don’t feel sorry for them.

Common refrains marketers still hear today are:

My blogs aren’t converting new customers.

My blogs aren’t generating leads.

My blogs aren’t reducing bounce rates.

The truth is, blogs are not a lead gen tool and, many times,

will actually increase bounce rates, which is totally fine.

In 2018, we hope the “blogging = content marketing”

mentality finally breaks; a blog is a necessary component to

content marketing, but it’s just one small piece of the puzzle.Social

PPC

Video

Email

Experiential

Custom Graphics

03

THE FUTURE

Misleading/Clickbait Headlines

RankBrain, along with the ongoing transition

to human-first search preferences, should

prompt you to drop the keyword stuffing and

overhyped titling we’re all used to seeing.

Headlines will remain very important. Very.

Case in point: Changing one word in an

email subject line has proven to increase

click-throughs by 46%.

But the contents of the book must match

the cover. If you fail to deliver great

content within your post, readers will be

left unfulfilled and with a bad taste in their

mouths. They will remember you as the

brand that over-promised and

under-delivered.

So speak naturally, fully articulate your

premise in the body copy and don’t

over-promise with your titles.

This is a bad habit everyone has developed over time. We all

want the best listicle, the insatiable Facebook post and the

quirky, overly punctuated title – after all, they can produce a

lot of clicks and shares from unengaged readers.

But Google (and, more slowly, social platforms) is on a

mission to weed out thin, clickbait-ridden content, so the

longer marketers stick to the same “amazing headline, but

terrible follow-through” format, the sooner they’ll see their

organic rankings tank.

“MAN EATEN BY SNAKE,

LIVES TO TELL THE TALE!”

“WHEN YOU SEE WHAT

THEY DID NEXT, YOUR JAW WILL

DROP.”

“HE WROTE 6 BLOGS IN ONE

DAY. YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE

NOW.”

“THIS MAY LOOK LIKE A NORMAL

HOUSE, BUT WAIT TIL YOU SEE WHAT’S

INSIDE.”

“SHE LOST 47 POUNDS BY EATING THIS WEIRD FRUIT EVERY DAY.”

04

THE FUTURE

Gating Content Like Your Life Depends on it

We’re not suggesting to ungate everything.

We’re suggesting you adopt a hybrid

gating model.

Create your expensive assets and gate them

as usual; however, repurpose those eBooks

and white papers into long-form blog posts,

shareable video explainers or web tutorials

that are free to the public, no download

required. This allows you to simultaneously

generate leads in the conventional way but

also broaden the scope of your assets to tap

into organic reach.

Plus, if a person absolutely wants the

downloadable PDF version of an asset, they

can easily enter their info to obtain it – it

appeases every possible type of readers.

So, ungate (some of) those assets and

start from scratch.

Most marketers gate content because they want to generate

more leads through form fills. However, that means some

of your most precious and time-intensive assets are sitting

locked away, and those that enter their contact info are

under no obligation to be forthcoming with their real

personal information (visitors can submit fake names and

email, for instance).

Roughly 80% of B2B

marketing assets are

gated. And without

additional promotion, this

content might never get

the exposure it could

have had.

80%

05

THE FUTURE

Pop-Ups with UX Flaws (Which Google Hates)

There are several types of pop-ups, including

new-window popups, modals, overlays

and interstitials.

In general, anything that opens a new

webpage is not going to work – too many

visitors use ad-blockers. Most experts

believe that even the least-intrusive ads

will soon be booted from SERPs.

That means native advertising will

become the new norm.

Disruptive advertising on the web has been around as

long as the internet itself. However, some marketers are

still looking to generate ad revenue through excessive

advertisements located (or popping up) on every region of

their sites. Even worse, many don’t take the time to master

the UX component of their ads.

As of 2017, Google officially penalizes mobile sites that

serve pop-up ads after users move from SERPs to a

webpage. This sort of penalty will likely become more

common as search is now a mobile-first world.

06

THE FUTURE

“Set it and Forget it” – Forgoing Reoptimization

About 60% of marketers

now reuse content 2-5

times, and 45% use

automation tools to

help them repurpose as

efficiently as possible.

Content is not a silver bullet, so get that out of your mind

immediately. Although marketers are slowly shifting their

resources toward a quality-over-quantity strategy, too many

still post content then eagerly await results. If there are none,

they give up and create something new, effectively shelving

any value their previous efforts may have contained.

The idea that your assets, your site or your strategy as a

whole is going to work on the first go-round is incorrect.

You need a dedicated system for collating

older content, assessing potential search

opportunities and curating a relaunch of

assets – something only 29% of

marketers have.

Search behaviors are moving targets, so to

continually find success in content marketing,

you need to proactively reoptimize content

for real-time prospect intent.

60%

07

THE FUTUREBad Retargeting

The optimal number of ad impressions per

user per month should be in the 15-20 range,

which means about one ad every day or two.

Some of the most common retargeting sins are:

Many of these problems are still pervasive throughout

today’s campaigns, and they can mostly be attributed to

marketers not analyzing their retargeting as closely as

possible (aka not updating post-conversion pages with code

that removes converted users from redundant campaigns,

among others).

Cycling through a small

sample of ads.

Deploying only a few ads

per month.

Deploying too many ads.

Targeting customers who

already purchased/converted

with the exact same ads.

~3

Clickthrough rates

also decline 50% after

running the same ads

for five months.

You must update and refine retargeting ads

to drive as much value out of impressions

as possible.

Lastly, get creative with your ads. Utilize

CRO best practices in regard to copy, colors

and CTAs.

-50%

08

THE FUTURE

Subject Matter Expertise Above Everything Else

Creative agencies are built for results – that’s

why they exist. That means content creation

is actually one tiny gap to fill. You also need

the upfront keyword research, competitive

analysis, CRO testing, post-launch

reoptimization, campaign measurement and

reporting that feeds into subsequent content.

You need the whole marketing machine, not

just the faint idea of the blueprints.

Subject matter experts within your company are great

resources to lean on when launching creative assets. But,

they can’t be the be-all, end-all. Moreover, you can’t forgo a

talented content producer (designer, writer, videographer)

simply because he or she doesn’t immediately have the

same SME as your internal resources.

There’s a learning curve. And as you’ve likely experienced

before, prodding your in-house experts to actually sit down

and produce content at scale is impossible, so save yourself

the headache and partner with an agency/producer that

complements your marketing efforts.

09

THE FUTURE

Narrow Content that YOU Want, Not Your Readers

We’re in a consumer-first world. We all have

instant access to information. And now, we

only have time for the best of it.

We often find that companies get stuck in echo chambers:

They push a single narrative, shun any references to

outsiders and force overly dense, overly promotional

content down the throats of readers.

Who are their readers? Typically employees of that company

itself or only a small subset of industry folks who likely

provide no commercial value to the brand.

Remember, you are not your readers. You are not

your buyers.

Close to 95% of

consumers find user-

generated content

helpful when making a

purchasing decision.

Influencer content

generates $6.50 for

every $1 spent.

Content that comes from trusted influencers

or peers is more profitable than churning out

the same sales content yourself. So, appease

your readers, not your ego.

95%

10

THE FUTURE

Sticking with the Old – Out of Fear of the New

Marketers are upping their content

marketing investments each year and are

also diversifying into other assets. Those that

don’t can expect results to flatline.

Here’s what’s already on the horizon:

Interactive campaigns on social

(quizzes, giveaways, contests, live

video streaming).

Virtual and augmented reality videos.

Micro-moment marketing.

Machine learning platforms.

Personalized content.

Are you experimenting with any of

the above?

About 28% of marketing budgets are spent specifically

on content marketing. It’s estimated that 50% of content

receives 2 or fewer interactions on Facebook, which means

what you’re producing right now probably isn’t working as

well as it could be.

Marketers generally avoid innovative concepts or off-the-wall

techniques that could reinvigorate their content out of fear of

the unknown. Will it perform? Will it be a waste? Will you have

to change your workflow? Will it require more work?

In 2018, “tried and true” = “boring and irrelevant.”

28% 50%

11

THE FUTURE

Using Too Many CTAs (Especially Generic Ones)

Your calls to action need to be hyper-

targeted, personalized and unique to the

asset/campaign you’re pushing.

Avoid clutter, misdirection or bland CTAs,

and instead run conversion rate optimization

experiments to drive maximum value out of

each CTA.

There’s nothing worse than a confusing call to action.

Well, perhaps several confusing CTAs at once.

Too often, marketers believe investments in CTAs mean

creating more of them rather than refining their existing ones.

Content with irrelevant, misplaced, conflicting or too many

calls to action does one thing: it confuses readers. Now why

would you want to do that?

Emails with a single CTA can increase

sales by more than 1,600%.

Personalized CTAs convert 42% more

than generic CTAs.

are

YOU

YET??

confused

12

ConclusionFinally. Now there are no more excuses.

We have the problems, we have the solutions and we have our eyes set on the

future of content marketing.

This eBook is a starting point – there are plenty of other tactical pitfalls marketers still

fall into, and who knows, maybe we’ll have another eBook queued up for those as well.

We have your back.

WWW.BRAFTON.COM

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terstitials-penalty-yesterday-267408 | ozcontent.com/blog/how-to-repurpose-content-like-a-pro-and-make-your-good-ideas-last-twice-as-long/ | curata.com/blog/content-market-

ing-statistics-the-ultimate-list/ | blog.retargeter.com/retargeting/7-deadly-sins-of-retargeting | tintup.com/blog/38-mind-blowing-stats-effectiveness-user-generated-content/ | ion.co/

essential-stats-for-influencer-marketing-in-2017 | contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2016_B2B_Report_Final.pdf | moz.com/blog/content-shares-and-links-in-

sights-from-analyzing-1-million-articles | protocol80.com/blog/16-kick-ass-call-to-action-statistics-that-prove-ctas-are-essential